Overseaming sewing-machine.



R. G. WOODWARD.

OVERSEAMING SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Arms, 1901.

Patented May 19, 1914.

s SHEETS-SHEET 1.

F NEsss A 7TOHNE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH (30., WASHINGTON. D. c.

R. G WO ODWARD. OVERSEAMING SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 8, 1901.

Patented May'19, 1914.

a SHEETS-MEET 2. 6 LN x fi Joya VENTOH mmiw A77'0HNEY I COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co.,w/\sHlNGToN. D. c.

R. G. WOODWARD.

OVERSEAMING SEWING MAGHINB.

APPLICATION FILED APB..8,1901.

Patented May 19, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Winssesx I] NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RUSSEL G. WOODWARI), 0F WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO UNION SPECIAL SEWING MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

OVERSEAMING SEWING-MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RUssEL G. -WoonwARn, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVaukegan, in the county of Lake, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Overseaming Sewing- Machines, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates toan improvement in sewing machines and has been designed particularly for use in making bags, the object being to provide a machine which will practically work at high speed upon very coarse, cheap and heavy material and with very coarse and gritty thread, as well as with the finer qualities of material and thread.

The stitch forming mechanism herein shown, comprises a vertically reciprocating needle which passes down through the material and throws out a loop of thread below the throat plate, a spreader takes the loop of needle thread, draws it to one side and to a point above the plane of the throat plate, when a swinging looper carries its thread through the needle loop thus held on the spreader, and into position so that the needle passes down through the looper loop, the spreader meanwhile releasing the needle loop in its passage downwardly to take the needle thread again. The looper and spreader are supported above the cloth plate and the mechanisms for supporting and op erating the same are very simple, durable and capable of high speed.

The invention consists primarily of a sewing machine having a reciprocatlng needle, a rocking spreader supported above the cloth plate and reciprocating from a point above to a point below the cloth plate, where it seizes the needle thread and draws the loop to a point above and to one side the throat plate, and a looper supported and oscillating entirely above the bed plate and carrying its thread through the needle loop and into position to be engaged by the needle in its descent.

Secondly, the invention consists in the details of construction of the support and Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 8, 1901.

Patented May 19, 1914.

Serial No. 54,897.

operating mechanism of the spreader and in various combinations of parts, all as hereinafter described and referred to in the appended claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompany drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front view, partially broken away, of a sewing machine embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a rear view; Fig. 3 is an end view; Fig. 4 is a front perspective view of the spreader supporting arm and shaft, this figure representing the position of the parts as the looper is about to carry its thread into the loop of needle thread held in the spreader. Fig. 5 is a detail view, representing the position of theparts as the showing the relation of the needle guard on the spreader and the needle guard on the throat plate, to the needle when in its lower position; Fig. 10 is a front plan view of the needle and spreader, when in the highest position; Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 10, with the needle and spreader in their lowest position. Fig. 12 is a detail in plan showing the spreader detached from its support.

In these drawings, the machine shown is of the well known Union Special type, having the vertically reciprocating needle bar'A, the presser foot B, the feeding mechanism (not shown) all of which parts are of well known construction and need not be herein specifically referred to. The needle bar A supports the thread carrying eye pointedneedle a which passes down through. the presser foot and throat plate and in its upward movement throws out a loop of thread in the usual manner.

Mounted in bearings in a bracket C attached to or formed integral with the head of the machine, is a shaft D, extending transversely of the machine frame, and having mounted or clamped on its forward end a bell crank lever, one arm E of which extends toward the right of the machine and is provided on its end with a socket b for the reception of the shank of the spreader, to be hereinafter referred to. The other arm F of this bell crank lever extends upwardly and is provided with a crank pin or projecting ball stud G from which connection is made to the needle lever H by the pitman rod I. The spreader K is of the form shown and moves up and down in the arc of a circle from a point below and back of the needle to a point to one side the needle and above the cloth plate, and has on its lower end a hook or beak c, which, as the spreader moves from low to high position, catches the needle loop and draws it to one side and in position to allow the looper with its thread to pass into the needle loop on the spreader.

It will be seen that the oscillation of the spreader is accomplished through the movementof the needle lever. The spreader K has a needle guard plate or projection d adjacent its lower end, which co-acts with a guard e on the under side of the throat plate to guide the needle and prevent its deflection. The projection cl on the threadmanipulating device, as above noted, forms a needle guard, and the outer face. of this needle guard is substantially in the same plane as the outer face of the beak of the loop-engaging device, so that the needle is positioned by the needle guard for the passing of the beak by the needle. The looper L carries a thread, is arranged on an oscillating axis and works entirely above the bed plate of the machine, the needle passing down between the part (Z on the spreader, and the part 6 on the throat plate, thus pre venting the springing of the needle which might otherwise take place. Its supporting shaft M is mounted in bearings in the machine frame and is oscillated by pitman, lever, and eccentric connections to the driving shaft N, as shown in Fig. 2.

The particular mechanism for operating the looper as well as the looper itself, form no part of the present invention, except in so far as the arrangement and cooperation with the spreader and needle are novel.

Suppose the needle to be in its lowest position, the spreader is also in its lowest position and the looper has not yet reached its retracted position. As the needle moves up it throws out a loop, the spreader moves back and the beak or hook 0 catches the needle loop. As the spreader and needle recede, the spreader draws the needle loop to the right and raises it above the throat plate; the looper moves forward and enters the loop of needle thread, carrying its own thread therethrough, and passes around in front of the needle so that the needle in its descent will catch the looper loop. When it has caught the looper loop, the spreader in its descent will release the needle loop and the same will be drawn up to the edge of the goods, making the proper finish for the material. It will be noted that as the needle moves down, the guard c on the throat plate prevents the needle from being deflected away from the spreader, which passes on the opposite side of the needle. The guard (Z on the lower edge of the spreader also moves into cooperative relation to the needle in advance of the beak of the spreader engaging the needle loop, and consequently the needle guard cl on one side of the needle, and the needle guard e on the other side of the needle holds said needle in proper position for the spreader beak to pass the needle and enter the needle loop.

Various minor modifications and changes in the construction of the parts of this device may be made, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is I 1. In an overscaming machine, a stitchforming mechanism including a reciprocating needle, a spreader supported above the cloth plate, with means for oscillating it to cause it to take a loop of needle thread from below the cloth plate and carry it into position above the same, a looper, a shaft arranged above the cloth plate supporting said looper, said shaft being inclined from the vertical, with means for oscillating said shaft to cause the looper to pass from a point in rear to a point in rfront of the needle and carry its thread through the needle loop on the spreader into position to be engaged by the needle in its descent; substantially as described.

2. An overseaming machine, comprising in combination, a work support, a stitchforming mechanism including a reciprocating needle bar, a needle carried thereby, a thread-manipulating device pivotally supported above the work support and moving in a plane substantially at right angles to the line of feed and cooperating with the needle below said work support, means for oscillating said thread-manipulating device, a shaft arranged above the work support adjacent the needle bar, said shaft being inclined to the needle bar, means for oscillating said shaft, a thread-manipulating member carried by said shaft and moving in a plane inclined to the work support and across the plane of movement of the first named thread-manipulating device and cooperating with said first named thread-manipulating device and needle to form an over-edge stitch; substantially as described.

3. An cverseaming machine, comprising in combination, a work support, a stitch forming mechanism including a recipro eating needle bar, a needle carried thereby, a thread-manipulating device pivotally supported above the work support at one side of the needle, and cooperating with the needle below the work support, said thread-manipulating device comprising an arm extending across the line of seam and a threadengaging member carried by said arm and curved substantially in an arc with the pivot of the thread-manipulating device as a center, said thread-engaging member having a loop-engaging hook extending backward substantially parallel to the body of said thread-engaging member, and a thread-manipulating device pivoted above the work support to swing about an axis inclined to the needle bar, said last named thread-manipulating device moving in a plane inclined to the work support and across the plane of movement of the thread-manipulating, device, and cooperating with said first named thread-manipulating device and needle to form an over-edge stitch; substantially as described.

l. A sewing machine including in combination a needle and complemental stitch forming mechanism, including a thread manipulating device, having a loop engaging beak, a supporting shank therefor, said beak being laterally offset from said shank and a. needle guard carried by and projecting from said shank in advance of said beak, the outer face of said needle guard being substantially in the same plane as the outer face of said beak, whereby said needle is positioned for the passing of said beak by said needle.

5. A sewing machine including in combination, a work suport, a needle and complemental stitch forming mechanism, including a thread manipulating device having a loop engaging beak, a supporting shank for said beak, pivoted above the work support, a needle guard carried by said shank,

said guard being located in advance of said beak and at a greater distance from the pivotal center of said support than said beak, whereby said beak will cooperate with said needle above the eye thereof, and said guard will cooperate with said needle below said eye.

6. A sewing machine including in combination, a work support, a needle, a thread carrying implement pivoted above said work support and having a beak cooperating with said needle below said work support, a second thread carrying implement cooperating with said first named implement and with said needle above the work support and a needle guard carried by and moving with said first named thread carrying implement, said needle guard cooperating with said needle, below the eye thereof.

7. In an overseaming machine a cloth plate, stitch forming mechanism, including a reciprocating needle, a spreader with means for oscillating it to cause it to take a loop of needle thread from below the cloth plate, and carry it into position above the same, and a looper with means for operating it to cause it to carry its thread through the needle loop on the spreader, into position to be engaged by the needle in its descent, said spreader being provided with a needle guiding plate whereby springing of the needle is prevented; substantially as described.

8. In an overseaming machine a cloth plate, stitch forming mechanism including a reciprocating needle, a spreader With means for oscillating it to cause it to take a loop of needle thread from below the cloth plate, and carry it into position above the same, and a looper with means for operating it, to cause it to carry its thread through the needle loop on the spreader into position to be engaged by the needle in its descent, said spreader being provided with a needle guiding plate, and a guard plate or member on the throat plate between which and the projection on the spreader, the needle is guided, whereby springing of the needle is prevented.

9. An overseaming machine, comprising in combination, a work support, a needle bar, a needle carried thereby, a shaft arranged above the work support and inclined to said needle bar, a thread-carrying implement carried by the lower end of said shaft, an arm pivotally supported above the work support and vibrating in a plane between the needle bar and said shaft, and a threadmanipulating implement carried by said arm and cooperating with said needle and said first named thread-carrying implement to form an overedge stitch.

10. An overseaming machine, comprising in combination, a work support, a needle bar, a needle carried thereby, a shaft arranged above the work support and adjacent the needle bar, a thread-carrying implement carried by the lower end of said shaft, an arm pivotally supported above the work support and vibrating in a plane between the needle bar and said shaft, and a threadmanipulating implement carried by said arm and cooperating with said needle and said first named thread-carrying implement to form an overedge stitch, means for vibrating said arm, including a link operating in front of said needle bar.

11. An overseaming machine comprising in combination a work support, a needle neath the Work support and with said thread In testimony whereof I aflix my signaearrying implement above the Work supture, in presence of two witnesses. port, said shaft being so disposed that the implement carried thereby moves in a plane RUSSEL WOODWVARD' slightly inclined to the Work support from \Vitnesses:

a point in rear of the thread manipulating CHESTER MONEIL,

implement to a point in front of said needle. JULIUS SHIRE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents, Washington, 1). G. 

